Rumple Is Full-On Dark One On 'OUAT'

Could this possibly be the final evil straw for Rumplestiltskin? Before Once Upon a Time went on its midseason hiatus, things started getting a little weird for Rumple. The same guy who'd finally embraced the better half of his magic and personality had become truly, awfully evil and self-serving — I mean, he took Hook's heart hostage for crying out loud, just when Captain Swan was at its most romantic point. And on Sunday night's "Enter the Dragon," Rumple got The Dagger back from Belle — the real dagger — and that definitely means that evil Rumple is here to stay on OUAT.

So, why exactly did Rumple disguise himself as Hook to get The Dagger back in the first place? In the final moments of Sunday's episode, The Dark One used his powerful magical object to turn August (aka Pinocchio) back into an adult so that he and the Queens of Darkness could question him about the elusive Author. But is that the only reason why Rumple felt the need to trick Belle into giving up The Dagger for "safe keeping?" It could be a lot more simple and selfish than that.

Were you thinking that nothing could be more selfish than Rumple walking out on Belle right after their wedding to pursue the Author and happy endings for all of the villains? Well, clearly we were all wrong — because it seems entirely possible that Rumple took The Dagger back from Belle, not just for his evil plan, but because he's really upset that she's moved on. Which, I'm sorry to say, is total crap. It was obvious when Rumple was pretending to be Hook at Granny's that he's absolutely not OK with Belle moving on from their dysfunctional relationship. So, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if he decided in that moment that because Belle wasn't waiting around for him, she wasn't the right person to hold The Dagger.

I get it, obviously — jealousy is a powerful thing, even if you're the most powerful being in Storybrooke. But Rumple's reign of terror just reached its highest level of potential evil and we should have questions — most of which should be what Rumple plans to do next with The Dagger. Did he take it back just to transform August? Or was this purely an act of love that just worked out in his favor? And, at what point will Rumple realize that he's in plenty of danger now that the Queens of Darkness know that The Dagger is back in his possession? This isn't going to end well, but all magic comes with a price, after all — Rumple, of all people, should know that.

Image: Jack Rowand/ABC